President of Russia Vladimir Putin: I believe I promised that I would come. It is
good that we are meeting in such circumstances where we have things to celebrate. I am referring to the outcome of our joint work.

Bashar al-Assad: Of course, these achievements and victories are very important to us.
The very theme of our meeting today – the destruction of ISIS militants – is
important for the entire world and makes it clear to the entire world that the states that are willing to fight ISIS, the very virus of radical terrorism, are
up to the task.

For my part, I express my deep
gratitude to you – on behalf of the people of the Syrian Arab Republic – for the role played by your Armed Forces.

Vladimir Putin:
Thank you.

This is, indeed, a meaningful outcome
of our joint work. True, the threat of terrorism remains high. But the fact
that we defeated ISIS, one of the main terrorist groups, here in Syria is
extremely important for Syria, Russia, and the entire world.

I hope that in conjunction with Iran
and Turkey, as well as the countries contributing to the eradication of terrorism, we will go beyond just restoring peaceful life and put in place a political process to resolve the situation in Syria in general. We will manage
to prepare for the Syrian National Congress, which we discussed in Sochi, and to launch the peaceful settlement process.

I will have an opportunity to discuss
this with the President of Egypt in Cairo and a little later with the President
of Turkey. We will contact you following these talks, and I will inform you in detail about our common plans for achieving a final settlement.

Bashar al-Assad: I believe your planned visits focus on further fighting and destroying
international terrorism and, at the same time, beginning the process of a peaceful
settlement in Syria.

The victories that have been
achieved will affect not only our state, but also all our neighbouring states,
so clearly the issues discussed in this format are important for the entire
region.